By JAMES PINKERTON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 5, 2010, 10:57PM
Michael Paulsen Chronicle
Whether it was a statistical aberration or the beginning of an alarming trend, a bloody tide of violence in the Houston area claimed 10 lives in less than 24 hours.
Houston police say the seven homicides in their jurisdiction that began Thursday and ended Friday are the result of domestic violence. And while the large grouping of shooting deaths is unusual, police don't see it as a reversal of the downward trend in homicides over the last four years. Three others died Thursday in Harris County.
“I think it's just an aberration,” said Capt. David Gott, head of the Houston Police Department's homicide division. “Last weekend was very quiet, and over the last 24 hours it hit. But there's really no rhyme or reason.”
Houston ended 2009 with 281 homicides, down from 295 the year before and far fewer than the 353 in 2007 or the 377 in 2006.
“The fact is none of them are related, they're all different parts of the city, different people,” said Gott, adding there was “nothing that would indicate there any kind of trend or any big jump up in the murder rate.”
District Attorney Pat Lykos said her office is studying the surge in violence that included two double homicides, two murder-suicides, a police-involved death and a shooting in which a mother allegedly killed her son.
“We are conducting an analysis to determine whether this is a tragic anomaly or if it portends an alarming trend,” Lykos said in a statement released Friday.
The deadly shootings began around 4 p.m. Thursday after two men broke into a residence in northeast Harris County and opened fire, killing two women and seriously injuring two others. Harris County deputies located one suspect, Jose Delarosa, 18, driving a car belonging to one of the victims. He fired several times at the deputies, who fatally shot him, officials said.
Tough times, more people
“We can't predict murders,” said Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia. “That is why it is critical for all of us in the criminal justice system to work together. Tough economic times and a growing population pose a challenge to us as we work with limited resources, but we want the citizens of Harris County to know we are doing the best we can to protect them.”
Garcia said his department is working to lock up gang members and criminal fugitives in the community.
“It's why our anti-gang and criminal warrants efforts are so active, along with other projects such as our revitalized cold case murder squad,” the sheriff said in a statement. “Regretfully, those cases that are more domestic in nature are the toughest for law enforcement to prevent. But that is why we support agencies like the Houston Area Women's Center, who help remove people from potentially dangerous domestic violence situations.”
Later on Thursday, Houston police chased Jaime Piero Cole, 39, who allegedly shot and killed his estranged wife and stepdaughter after the teen tried to break up an argument over money and their upcoming divorce, officials said. The shootings occurred in front of his 11-year-old son and a 9-year-old niece.
The suspect was arrested outside a Walmart in Wharton, where police said he had he had bought more ammunition minutes earlier.
“He made some statements to us that he wanted the police to kill him, but since he had his 2-year-old son with him, he thought better of that,” said HPD homicide investigator R. Chappell.
Cole remains in Harris County Jail on capital murder charges in the deaths of Melissa Dawn Cole, 31, and her daughter, Alecia Desire Castillo, 15.
After midnight Thursday, Houston police were called to two apparent murder-suicides and a mother-son shooting in a east side apartment.
Homicide investigators said Kevin Ford, 40, was killed when the gun his mother held discharged during a struggle at her apartment in the 5300 block of Coke. The bullet also wounded her in the hip.
Crimes of passion
“In almost every one of these incidents, it was a crime of passion and where police couldn't have made a pre-emptive effort and prevented it,” said Gary Blankinship, president of the Houston Police Officer's Union. “These things are hard to predict, and hard to prevent, when you have a split-second crime of passion.”
Larry Hoover, director of the Police Research Center at Sam Houston State University, said it is unlikely that Houston is bucking a nationwide trend that has seen violent crime, and property crime, continue to diminish.
“It's a spurt, a statistical anomaly,” Hoover said of the recent shootings. “Houston would be expected, over a longer period of time, to follow the national trend. It always has.”
james.pinkerton@chron.com
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